Obesity/overweight is a chronic metabolic disorder in which excess of body fat causes or increases the risk of suffering many health problems. In particular, it is associated with coronary heart disease, development of certain forms of cancer, respiratory problems, and cholelithiasis. It is a complex disorder determined by interactions between genetic, environmental and psychosocial factors that affect the balance between energy intake and expenditure. Human obesity, defined as a body-mass index higher than 30 Kg/m2, is a major and costly disease in developed countries, with an approximate prevalence of 15–20% in Europe and 20–25% in United States. However it is also present, and increasing, in Latin America and Southeast and Middleast Asia. Despite the importance of obesity as a medical and social problem, nowadays there is not any totally effective treatment available.
Attempts to solve the problem of obesity/overweight by reducing food intake, with o without antiorexic therapy, or by doing physical exercise, are well known. But also known are the difficulties, limitations and general lack of success of all these approaches. Pharmacotherapy of obesity/overweight has been studied by using e.g. dexfenfluramine, sibutramine, orlistat and phentermine; but none of these agents has proved to be totally satisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,763 teaches the use of tungsten (VI) compositions as insulin-mimicker drugs for the treatment of human suffering from diabetes mellitus. Although humans suffering from type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; NIDDM) may also show obesity symptoms, both pathologies (diabetes and obesity) are considered clinically different from each other. Actually, many humans suffering from obesity are never considered as diabetic. The present invention specifically refers to the treatment of obesity in the patient population of non-diabetic, obese humans. Tungsten compounds have never been suggested for such a treatment.
Thus, the provision of new products for the treatment of obesity/overweight in non-diabetic mammals, including humans, is still of major importance.